Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Buys 98,068 Shares of Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc increased its stake in Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:A) by 370.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,575 shares of the medical research company’s stock after purchasing an additional 98,068 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Agilent Technologies were worth $16,735,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in A. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Agilent Technologies by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 5,888 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $791,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 1,782 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in Agilent Technologies by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 62,299 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $8,369,000 after purchasing an additional 2,843 shares in the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group increased its stake in Agilent Technologies by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 1,833 shares of the medical research company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Agilent Technologies during the 4th quarter worth about $362,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $161.00 to $159.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Agilent Technologies to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Barclays decreased their price target on Agilent Technologies from $138.00 to $115.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Agilent Technologies from $135.00 to $116.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.00.

Insider Transactions at Agilent Technologies

In related news, VP Rodney Gonsalves sold 1,908 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.98, for a total value of $232,737.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 21,786 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,456.28. The trade was a 8.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Daniel K. Podolsky sold 1,819 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.46, for a total value of $211,840.74. Following the transaction, the director now owns 35,737 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,161,931.02. This trade represents a 4.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Agilent Technologies Trading Down 1.6%

A stock opened at $106.93 on Monday. Agilent Technologies, Inc. has a one year low of $96.43 and a one year high of $155.35. The stock has a market cap of $30.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $111.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $128.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.20 and a quick ratio of 1.66.

Agilent Technologies (NYSE:A) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The medical research company reported $1.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.04. Agilent Technologies had a net margin of 19.27% and a return on equity of 25.56%. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Agilent Technologies, Inc. will post 5.54 EPS for the current year.

Agilent Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.248 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $0.99 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Agilent Technologies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.76%.

Agilent Technologies Profile

Agilent Technologies, Inc provides application focused solutions to the life sciences, diagnostics, and applied chemical markets worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Life Sciences and Applied Markets, Diagnostics and Genomics, and Agilent CrossLab. The Life Sciences and Applied Markets segment offers liquid chromatography systems and components; liquid chromatography mass spectrometry systems; gas chromatography systems and components; gas chromatography mass spectrometry systems; inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry instruments; atomic absorption instruments; microwave plasma-atomic emission spectrometry instruments; inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry instruments; raman spectroscopy; cell analysis plate based assays; flow cytometer; real-time cell analyzer; cell imaging systems; microplate reader; laboratory software; information management and analytics; laboratory automation and robotic systems; dissolution testing; and vacuum pumps, and measurement technologies.